About

The John W. Campbell Award is given to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy was published in a professional publication in the previous two years. For the 2008 award, which is presented at the World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), the qualifying work must have been published in 2006 or 2007.

There can be confusion over the term "professional publication" since the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), and the award sponsor define it differently. For the purposes of the Campbell Award, professional publications are works sold for more than a nominal amount and published anywhere in the world.

Please refer to the Eligibility F.A.Q. for an explanation of qualifying publications and answers to common questions.

The Campbell Award is administered by the Worldcon, but the rules for awarding the Campbell are determined by the award sponsor, Dell Magazine. Eligibility rules were changed in 2005.

Voting Procedure

The John W. Campbell Award uses the same nomination and voting mechanism as the Hugo, even though the Campbell Award is not a Hugo. To be able to nominate a writer for the 2008 award, you must have either been an attending member of the 2007 Worldcon in Japan or be a supporting or attending member of the 2008 Worldcon in Denver before Jan. 31, 2008.

Nomination ballots must be received by March 1, 2008. Please see the official nomination ballot on the Denvention 3 website.

To be able to vote for the award, you must be a supporting or attending member of the 2008 Worldcon. If you are not a member of the Denvention 3 Worldcon and wish to vote, you must purchase a supporting membership or an attending membership before January 31.

Eligible Authors for 2008 Campbell Award

2008 nominations have been completed.

2009 eligible authors should contact us for inclusion in the list. We will begin displaying 2009 eligible authors in November. (Sorry, we are moving the entire platform to a new Google-run platform and have been delayed.) If you have questions on eligibility, refer to the Eligibility F.A.Q.

A moderator can help you determine your eligibility if you are stumped.

Abercrombie, Joe	Armstrong, Jon	Bergmann, F.J.	Berry, Jedediah
Bowker, John	Bradford, K Tempest	Bradley, Darin C	Bramlett, Terry
Braum, Daniel	Brennan, Marie	Brown, Leslie Ann	Bunker, Karl
Burridge, John	Castle, Sarah K	Connolly, Tina	de Bodard, Aliette
Deal, Ef	Dolton, Brian Robert	Dugan, Grace	Durham, David Anthony
Edelman, David Louis	Emrys, Ruthanna	Ferrari, Mark J	Fire, Kaolin Imago
Frazier, Tony	Fulda, Nancy	Genge, Sara	Gilbow, S.L.
Grossman, Austin	Guptara, Suresh and Jyoti	Hammond, Warren	Harvey, Colin
Haw, Kevin N.	Henderson, Samantha	Hergenrader, Trent	Johnson, Matthew
Jones, Michael M	Kahn, Jason	Kail, Andrea	Kaswell, Damon
Kontis, Alethea	Kotowych, Stephen	Kowal, Mary Robinette	Kratman, John
Lambshead, John	Ledbetter, William	Lincoln, Natalia	Lindsley, Heather
Lowe, C. Sanford	Lynch, Scott	Malcolm-Clarke, Darja	Mead, Donald
Novy, Rick	Overstreet, Jeffrey	Palmatier, Joshua	Palmer, Suzanne
Parisi, Susan	Pi, Tony	Preston, William	Rappatta, Brian
Richardson, Kat	Rowe, Rebecca K	Sakmyster, David	Sanger, Katherine
Seeger, Jerry	Sevcik, Edward	Shepherd, Joel	Sigrist, Brandon
Slattery, Brian Francis	Smith-Ready, Jeri	Stanger, Vaughan	Stiles, Paula R
Stueart, Jerome	Tabler, Ray	Texter, Douglas	Totton, Sarah Ceridwen
Uphoff, Pamela	Velichansky, Michail	Vickers, Patrick Scott	Walton, David
Wilson, Alex	Zimring, Kim

These writers are known to be ineligible for the 2008 Campbell Award due to qualifying publications before 2006:

Jeff Carlson

Samantha Henderson

Anil Menon

Patrick Rothfuss

Cat Rambo

Stephen M Wilson

Past Voting Results

2008 Campbell Award Finalists

The winner was announced at the Denvention Hugo Award Ceremony on August 9, 2008.

Author	Year of Eligibility
Joe Abercrombie	2nd year
Jon Armstrong	1st year
David Anthony Durham	1st year
David Louis Edelman	2nd year
Mary Robinette Kowal (winner)	2nd year
Scott Lynch	2nd year

2007 Campbell Award Finalists

Author	Year of Eligibility
Scott Lynch	1st year
Sarah Monette	2nd year
Naomi Novik (winner)	1st year
Brandon Sanderson	2nd year
Lawrence M. Schoen	2nd year

2006 Campbell Award Finalists

Author	Year of Eligibility
John Scalzi (winner)	1st year
K.J. Bishop	2nd year
Sarah Monette	1st year
Chris Roberson	2nd year
Brandon Sanderson	1st year
Steph Swainston	2nd year

Past winners...

Comments from Nominees & Winners

Read more comments...

Wen Spencer Winner, 2003

To understand the impact of being nominated for the John Campbell Award, one needed the Internet. Prior to 2002, a search on my name only pulled up my website and a handful of places reviewing my book. A month later, however, and my name was spread across the world, along with the word "finalist" translated into every language of man. I cannot see it as coincidence that a short time later, a Russian publisher bought the rights to translate my novels into Russian. Seconds after winning, the news went out again, in the languages of the world, that I was a winner. The John Campbell will be an amazing boast to my career.